Method and means for making warp knit fabrics



y June1l`,1943. c, R. BURNS 1 2,320,405

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING WARP. KNIT FABRICS Filed may e, 1941 l c o O l l a I g o u v .4, hej@ 66 n A wh@ t KI @130 45, l; l fr@ IN VEN T OR CHARLES R. BURNS Patented June l, 1943 METHOD AND MEANS FUR MAKING WARP KNIT FABRlCS Charles R. Burns, West Reading, Pa., assigner to Vanity Fair Mills, Inc., a corporation 'of Penn- Sylvania Application May s, 1941, serial No. 392,456

(ci. ca -s4) 22 Claims.

' the back guide bar slidabie in reverse directions longitudinally of the needle bar and swingable transversely of said needle bar. 'Every other yarn guide in the back guide bar is threaded with a-warp yarn, preferably an elastic yarn, and every yarn guide in the front guide bar is threaded with a warp yarn, preferably an inelastic yarn` The front and back guide bars respec- I tively slide longitudinally of the needle bar, at

times in the same direction and at other times in the opposite direction, but the sliding motion of one guide bar, specifically the back guide bar, occurs only in front of the needles, whereas the sliding motion of the other guide bar, specifically the front guide bar, occurs either in front or in back of the needles.

One guide bar, that is, the back guide bar, has a sliding motion longitudinally of the needle bar a certain number of needles at a time for the distance of a predetermined fixed number of needles in one direction and for the distance of a predetermined fixed number of needles in the other direction, and the other guide bar, that is, the front guide bar, has a sliding motion longitudinally of the needle bar a certain number of needles at a time for adistance of a predetermined variable number of needles in one direction and forthe distance of a predetermined variable number of needles in the other direction.

Thus. to give a specific example, each yarn in the back guide bar laps over four needles, one needle at a time, and then drops back four needles, one needle at a time, Whereas each yarn in the front guide bar laps over one needle, under one needle, and drops back over one needle, under one needle, and then laps over fwn needles, under one needle, this relative lappng and dropping back of the yarns in the rear and. front guide bars being repeated throughout the length of the fabric.

As a result of this particular procedure, there is produced a warp knit fabric consisting of courses knitted from yarns in the front guide bar, certain spaced courses being formed of nonreversing closed stitches on whichthe yarns in the rear'guide bar are hung. Further, the particular procedure results in that the yarns in the rear guide bar are laid in zig-zag fashion so that said yarns, upon being relieved of the tension under which they are laid incidentally to knitting, tend to straighten out,- causing the loops of the courses knitted from theyarns in the front guide bar to gather, accordingly producing a fabric having an increased ability to stretchand snap back, and possessing a characteristic surface appearance.

It is, therefore, the primary purpose of the invention to provide a method of producing a non-curling, non-wrlnkling, two-way elastic stretch fabric by feeding and associating inelastic and elastic warp yarns in a novel and characteristic manner.

In manufacturing such a fabric, however, I have discovered that from a practical standpoint, it is impossible to utilize an ordinary tricot warp knitting machine as it is now generally constructed, and I have found out particularly that it is wholly impractical and virtually impossible to feed the elastic warp yarns to the needles according to the mode now usually practiced in the art. Ordinary tricot warp knitting machines are provided with so-called yarn tension bars disposed at points above, and forward of, the yarn guide bars so that the yarns leading from the Warp beams and passing over said tension bars are fed to the needles through the front of the yarn guides in a generally vertical direction, that is, crosswise of the sinkers. elastic warp yarns are so fed, the tension on said yarns incident to the knitting of a stitch tends to exert a vertical pull on the fabric crosswise of the sinkers and thus causes the fabric to come off the sinkers before the next stitch can be completed.

Therefore, it is one of the most important objects of this invention to provide the tricot machine with means, preferably in the form of an additional tension bar, disposed in back of the elastic yam-threaded guide bar and located substantially in the horizontal plane of the elastic yarn guide eyelets, whereby said elastic yarns are fed through the rear of the yarn guides in a generally horizontal direction. that is, lengthwise of the sinkers, thereby converting the usual vertical pull to a horizontal pull of the fabric lengthwise of the sinkers, which results in preventing the fabric from leaving the sinkers while successive stitches are being knitted.

Another important feature ofthe invention resides in so associating an additional tension bar When with a guide bar intended to be threaded with elastic warp yarns that the moving of the guide bar transversely of the needles to the rear thereof will not tension the yarn lengths leading from the warp beams but will, to'some extent, tension rearwardly the yarn lengthsnleading from the fabric to whichv they are anchored, thus assuring theretention of the fabric on the sinkers, such tension, however, being subsequently relieved by the return movement of the guide bar transversely of the needles to the front thereof, whereby the elastic yarns 'are causedto assume a somewhat relaxed condition 'when tied inthe` operation may be more readily understood by those skilled in the art, I have, in the accompanying drawing and in the detailed description based thereupon, set out a possible embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing;

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic illustration of the essential parts of a tricot warp knitting machine embodying the invention;

Figure 2 indicates the combined motions of the front and rear guide bars of a tricot machine operated to produce the fabric in accordance with the invention;-

Figure 3 indicates the motion of the back guide bar in making said fabric construction;

Figure 4 indicates the motion of the front guide bar in the making of the fabric construction;

Figure 5 illustrates on an enlarged scale the loop formation of the fabric construction as knitted on the machine;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of one face of the fabric construction upon being completed.

Having more particular reference to Figure 1 of the drawing, the tricot warp knitting machine includes the usual needle bar I0 provided With its bank of needles I2 with which the sinkers I4 are associated.

Disposed for cooperation with the needles I2 and sinkers I4 to feed yarns thereto are the front guide bar I6 and the back guide bar I8, each guide bar being provided with a bank of yarn guides 20 corresponding in number to the number of needles I2 in the needle bar I0. The guide bars I 6 and I8 are mounted for slidable movement in reverse directions longitudinally of the needle bar I0 and for swingable movement transversely of said needle bar. As is customary, the front guide bar I 6 is adapted to be threaded with warp yarns from an upper warp beam 22, whereas l the back guide bar s is adapted to be threaded with warp yarns from a lower warp beam 24. The warp yarn lengths, in leading from the warp beams 22 and 24 to their respective guide bars, are passed over so-called tension bars, such as represented at 26 and 28 respectively.

In accordance with the present invention, one of the guide bars, specifically the front guide bar I6, is to be threaded with inelastic yarns, and the other guide bar, specifically the back guide bar I8, is' to be threaded with elastic yarns. Therefore, the upper beam 22 is made up of inelastic yarns 30 and the lower beam 24 is made up of elastic yarns 32.

Also in accordance with the invention, the knitting machine is supplied with an additional tension bar 34 mounted in position at the rear of the guide bar threaded with the elastic yarns, that is, the rear guide bar I8. The additional tension bar 34, moreover, is located substantially in the horizontal plane of the eyelets 36 of the yarn guides of said guide bar I8 so that the elastic yarns 32, passing over the usual tension bars 28, are led over said additional tension bar 34 and threaded through said eyelets 36 of the back guide bar I3v from the rear thereof. In this manner, the elastic yarns are fed in a substantially horizontal direction, that is, lengthwise of the sinkers I4, and, accordingly, tend to exert a horizontal pull on the fabric being knitted, thus causing the latter to stay on the sinkers I4 during the formation of succeeding stitches.

Also because of the particular manner of feed; ing the elastic yarns 32, the yarn guides 20 of the guide bar I8 while moving transversely of the needle bar IIJ to the rear thereof do not tension the lengths of elastic yarns leading from ,the warp beam 24 to said guides, but said guides do tension rearwardly of the needles in a direction longitudinally of the sinkers I4 the yarn lengths leading from the guides to the fabric in which the elastic yarns are anchored.` Due to such rearward longitudinal tension, the retention of the fabric on the sinkers during the knitting of successive stitches is effectively assured. This tension, however, is relieved when the guides move transversely of the needles to the front thereof and thus the detrimental effects of distorting the fabric or causing the same to curl are effectively prevented.

From Figure 2 of the drawing, it will be noted that the elastic yarns 32 and the inelastic yarns 30 are, at times, laid in front of the needles I2 in opposite directions, and at other times are laid in front of the needles I2 in the same direction, and that, moreover., while the number of inelastic yarns 30 is equal to the number of needles I2, there are only half that number of elastic yarns 32.

The movements of the guides of the respective yarns 30 and 32 are represented separately in Figures 3 and 4. As clearly appears in Figure 3. each elastic yarn 32 is moved, for instance, to the right in front of the needles one needle at a time for a certain number of needles, and then to the left in front of the needles one needle at a time for a certain number of needles. In the example shown, the movement of each elastic yarn to the right and to the left is over four it will be understood that such movement may be over a, different number of needles than that specified in either or both directions.

It is to be noted particularly that the elastic yarn, in its movement to the right and to the left, does not lap around any one needle at any time, but is merely laid in a lengthwise postion in front of the needles, the yarn at its reversal points indicated at 40 and 42 (Figure 3) becoming hung, as shown at 44 and 46 in Figure 5.

As shown in Figure 4, each inelastic yarn 30 is moved to the right over one needle, under one needle, so that the yarn is wrapped around the needle as shown at 48 in Figure 4, forming a reneedles, although versing closed stitch as shown at 50 (Figure 5). 'Ehen the inelastic yarn is moved to the left over one needle, under one needle, so that the yarn is wrapped around the needle as shown at 52 (Figure Il) forming a reversing closed stitch asshown at d (Figure 5). Thereafter, the inelastic yarn is moved again t'o the right over two needles, under one needle, so that the yarn is wrapped about the needle asshown at Se (Figure 4) to form a nonreverslng closed stitch as shown at 58 (Figure 5) and continues to move to the right over one needie, under one needle, so that the yarn is wrapped about the needle as shown at 60 (Figure d) forming a reversing closed stitch as shown at d (Figure 5). Then the inelastic yarn is moved to the left over one needle, u-nder one needle, so that the yarn is wrapped about the needle as shown at @d (Figure 4) forming a reversing closed stitch as shown at St (Figure 5). -Then the inelastic yarn is moved to the right over one needle,

under one needle, so that the yarn is wrapped about the needle as shown at 58 (Figure 4) forming a 1reversing closed stitch as shown at 'lli (Figure 5).

needle, so that the yarn is wrapped about the needle as shown at l2 (Figure 4) to form a nonreversing closed stitch, as shown at 'M (Figure 5) and continues to move to the right over one needle, under oney needle, so that the yarn lis wrapped about the needle as shown at 16 (Figure 4) forming a reversing closed stitch as shown at 'i6 (Figure 5) 'This constitutes one repeat, which is duplicated throughout the length of the fabric.

. The relative movements of the elastic yarns 32 and inelastic yarns cause the interknitting of theinelastic yarns and the tying in of the elastic yarns in the manner more clearly illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawing.

AIt is particularly to be noted that, in the manufacture of the fabric in accordance with the nvention, the inelastic warp yarns 30 are wrapped around the needles I2 so that said inelastic yarns become knitted into loops to form the base fabric,

but that the elastic warp yarns 32 are laid only in front of the needles l2 so that said elastic yarns do not form loops. However, it is pointed out that, although the elastic yarns are not wrapped around the needles, they are pulled between adjacent needles when the yarn guides move transversely of the needle bar from the front to the rear of the needles, with the result that said elastic yarns are tensioned to a sufficient degree to assure their proper anchorage in thefbase fabric, the elastic warp yarns being subsequently relieved ofthe tension incident to the knitting when the yarn guides move from the rear to the front of the needles, which prevents the fabric from curling. e

. Attention is particularly called to the fact that the elastic yarns 32 necessarily are laid under that tension which is incident to the knitting of the-fabric. Because of this, although the elastc yarns are laid in zig-zag direction as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, and are hung at staggered points, as indicated at lid and d5 in Figure 5, such elastic yarns come out straight in the completed fabric, as diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 6. Thus the elastic yarns, in their straightening, are relleved of their tension incident to the knitting without" crawling, and therefore do not cause a wrinkled effect in the fabric.

Moreover, the straightening out of the elastic yarns relatively shifts and gathers in coursewise direction the loops of the inelastic yarns consti- 'outing the base fabric, with the result that a considerable increase in stretch and snap is lmparted to the fabric. Also as a result of the straightening of the elastic yarns and the shifting and gathering of the loops of inelastic yarns, there is produced in one face of the fabric a distinctive grogram-llke surface appearance, as diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 6.

Whereas I have described herein the specic details of a possible embodimentof the invention, it'is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to such details and that any modification coming within the scope of the subjoined Thereafter the inelastic yarn is* moved to the left over two needles, under one claims is to be considered within the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a tricot warp knitting machine: vertically disposed needles; horizontally disposed sinkers; a guide bar suspended above the needles and sinkers and provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides having yarn guiding eyelets located in the vertical pla-ne of said needles and sinkers; tension bars supported in the vertical plane of said eyelets to normally lead yarn thereto in a vertical direction longitudinally of the needles and transversely of the sinkers; and a tension bar supported in the horizontal plane of said eyelets to lead yarn horizontally thereto at right angles to the needles and in superposed parallel relation to the sinkers.

2. In a tricot warp knitting machine: vertically front guide bar and a rear guide bar, said guide.

bars being suspended above the needles and sinkers and each guide bar provided with vertically disposed yarn guides having yarn guiding eyelets located in the vertical plane of said needles and sinkers; tension bars supported in the vertical plane of said eyelets to normally lead yarn thereto in a vertical direction longitudinally of the needles and transversely of the sinkers; and a tension bar supported in the horizontal plane of the eyelets inthe yarn guides of the rear guide bare to lead yarn horizontally to said last mentioned eyelets at right angles to the needles and in superposed paralleling relation to the sinkers.

3. A tricot warp knitting machine for incorporating a set of elastic warp yarns under tension into a base fabric knitted by the machine from a set of inelastic warp yarns. comprising: vertically disposed needles; horizontally disposed sinkers; a guide bar supported above the needles and sinkers and provided with vertically disposed yarn guides having yarn guiding eyelets located in the vertical plane of said needles and sinkers to feed yarns thereto; and means disposed in the horizontal plane of the eyelets of said guide bar for leading thereto the elastic warp yarns under tension in a horizontal direction longitudinally of the needles and transversely of the sinkers Whereby to hold the elastic yarns in engagement with the needles and sinkers for the positive tying of said elastic yarns i-n the base fabric being knitted and for positively holding the latter on the sinkers.

4. A tricot warp knitting machine for knitting a, set of inelastic yarns into a base fabric and tying a set of elastic yarns under tension in said base fabric, comprising: vertically disposed needles; horizontally disposed sinkers; a pair of guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with vertically disposed yarn guides having yarn guiding eyelets located in the vertical plane of said needles and sinkers to feed yarns thereto; tension means supported,

in the vertical plane of the eyelets of one guide bar to lead the set of inelastic yarns thereto in a vertical direction longitudinally of the needles and transversely of the sinkers for the knitting of the base fabric stitches; and tension means supported in the horizontal plane of the eyelets of the other guide bar to lead the set of elastic yarns under tension in a horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in superposed paralleling relation to the sinkers, whereby to hold said elastic yarns in engagement with the needles and sinkers for the positive tying of said elastic yarns in the base fabric being knitted, and for positively holding the latter on the sinkers during the formation of succeeding stitches.

5. In a method of manufacturing warp knit fabricon a tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers,' and a guideA bar suspended above the needles and sinkers and provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the step of feeding the yarns to the yarn guides in al generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

6. In a method of Imanufacturing warp knit fabric on a tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of feeding a set of warp yarns to the yarn guides of one bar in a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needles and crosswise of the sinkers; and o f feeding a set of warp yarns to the yarn guides of the other bar in a generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

7. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of feeding a set of inelastic warp yarns to the yarn guides of one bar in a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needles and crosswise of the sinkers; and of feeding a set of elastic warp yarns to the yarn guides of the/other bar in a generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

8. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a front guide bar and a back guide bar, said guide bars being suspended above the needles and sinkers and each guide bar provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp.

yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of feeding a set of inelastic warp yarns to the yarn guides of the front guide bar in a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needles and crosswise of the sinkers for the knitting of a base fabric; and of feeding a set of elastic warp yarns to the yarn'guides of the back guide bar in a 9. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a guide bar suspended above the needles and sinkers and provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers and movable in the longitudinal plane of the sinkers transversely of the needles to and from the front and rear thereof: feeding elastic warp yarns to the yarn guides of the guide bar from a point located on the front side of the needles in a direction paralleling the sinkers whereby to cause the yarn guides when moving transversely of the needles towards the rear thereof to tension the yarn lengths to a degree necessary for the knitting and, when moving transversely of the needles 'towards the vfront thereof, to relieve the tension incident to the knitting whereby to prevent curling of the fabric.

10. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers for the tying in of said elastic warp yarns into said base fabric.

bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to vthe needles and sinkers, and movable in the longitudinal plane of the sinkers transversely of the needles to and from the front and rear thereof: feeding inelastic warp yarns to the yarn guides of one guide bar for delivery to the needles and sinkers to knit a base fabric; and feedingelastic warp yarns to the yarn guides of the other guide bar for delivery to the needles and sinkers to be tied into said base fabric, the feeding of the elastic warp yarns to the associated yarn guides being from a point located on the lfront side of the needles in a direction paralleling the sinkers whereby to cause said last mentioned yarn guides when moving transversely of the needles towards the front thereof to relieve the tension incident to the knitting, whereby to prevent curling of the fabric. y

i1. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a tricot machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide bars suspended above the-needles and sinkers and each provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers and movable in the longitudinal plane of the sinkers transversely of the needles to and from the front and rear thereof: feeding inelastic warp yarns. to the yarn guides of one guide bar for delivery to the needles and sinkers I ciated yarn guides being from a point located on the front side of the needles in a direction paralleling the sinkers whereby to cause the associated yarn guides when moving transversely of the needles towards the back thereof to tension the yarn to a degree necessary for the knitting, and when moving transversely of the needles` towards the front thereof,to relieve the tension incident to f the knitting whereby vto prevent curling ofthe fabric.

12. In a tricot warp knitting machine, the com- 13. Ina tricot warp knitting machine, the coml.

bination with thevertically disposed needles. horizontally disposed sinkers, and guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with vertically disposed yarn guides, of means for feeding a set of warp yarns to the lneedles and sinkers through the yarn guides of one guide bar in -a. generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needles and crosswise of the sinkers, and means for feeding another set of warp yarns to the needles and sinkers through the yarn guides of the other guide bar in a generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

14. In a tricot warp knitting machine, the combination with the vertically disposed needles. horizontally disposed sinkers, and guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with vertically disposed yarn guides, of tension bars disposed at points above the guide bars for normally feeding sets of warp yarns to the needles and sinkers through the yarn guides of said guide bars in a generally vertical direction; and means positioned substantially in the horizontal plane of the delivery portion ofthe yarn guides of one guide bar for changing the normal vertical feed of the yarns into a generally l horizontal feed at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

' yarn guides of one guide bar being threaded with inelastic warp yarns and the yarn guides of the other guide bar being threaded with elastic warp yarns, of: tension bars disposed at points above the guide bars for normally feeding the inelastic and elastic warp yarns to the needles and sinkers through the yarn guides of said guide bars in a generally vertical direction; and means positioned substantially in the horizontal plane of the yarn guides threaded with elastic Warp yarns for changing the normal vertical feed of the latter into a generally horizontal feed at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

16. In a tricot warp knitting machine, the combination with the vertically disposed needles, horizontally disposed sinkers, a front guide bar and a back guide bar, said guide bars being suspended above the needles and sinkers and each guide bar provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides of: means for feeding a set of warp yarns to the needles and sinkers through the yarn guides of the front guide bar in a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needles and crosswise of the sinkers; and means for feeding another set of warp yarns to the needles and sinkers through the yarn guides of the back guide bar in a generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

17. In a tricot warp knitting machine, the combination with the vertically disposed needles. horizontally disposed sinkers, a front guide bar,

and a back guide bar, said guide bars being suspended above the needles and sinkers and `each guide bar provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides of: means for feeding a set of inelastic warp yarns to the needles and sinkers through the yarn guides of the front guide bar in 'a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needlesand crosswise of the sinkers; and means for feeding another set of elastic warp yarns to the needles and sinkers through the yarn guides of the back guide bar in a generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers.

'18. In a method of manufacturing warp knit fabric on a tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of: feeding a set of warp yarns to the yarn guides of one bar in a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needles and crosswise of the sinkers; feeding a set of warp yarns to yarn guides ofthe other bar in a generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers; knitting one set of yarns into loops for the formation of spaced series of mul-4 tiple courses and of a course intermediate each series by lapping said one set of yarns in reverse direction to form reversing closed loops throughout the courses of each of said spaced series. and lapping said one set of yarns in non-reverse direction to form non-reverse closed loops throughout the courses intermediate each series; and laying in without knitting into loops the otherset of yarns by lapping said other set of yarns continuously in one direction in relation to one series of multiple courses of reversing closed loops, and continuously in the reverse direction in relation to the adjacent series of multiple courses of reversing closed loops, whereby to hang the yarns of said other set onto the nonreversing closed loops of the course intermediate said series.

19. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of:

' feeding a set of inelastic warp yarns to the yarn guides of one bar in a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the needles and crosswise of the sinkers; feeding a set of elastic warp yarns to yarn guides of the other bar in a generally horizontal direction at right angles to the needles and in parallel relation to the sinkers; knitting the set of inelastic yarns into loops for the formation of spaced series of multiple courses and of a course intermediate each series, by lapping said set of inelastic yarns in reverse direction to form reversing closeo. loops throughout the courses of each of said spaced series; and lapping said'set of inelastic yarns in non-reverse direction to form non-reversing closed loops throughout the course intermediate each series; and laying in without knitting into loops the set of elastic yarns by looping said set of elastic yarns continuously in one direction in relation to one series of multiple courses of reversing closed loops and continuously in the reverse direction in relation to the adjacent series of multiple courses of reversing closed loops, whereby to hang the elastic yarns onto the non-reversing closed loops of the course intermediate said series. i

20. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a tricot warp knitting machine having a number of vertically disposed needles,

a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers associated with said needles, and a frontguide bar and a, back guide bar, said guide bars being suspended above the needles and sinkers and each guide bar provided with a bank of vertically disposed 'yarn guides corresponding in number to the number of needles for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of: feeding an inelastic warp yarn to each yarn guide of the front guide bar in a generally vertical direction lengthwise of the corresponding needle and crosswise of the associated sinker; reciprocatingsaid front guide bar in front and in back of the needles a certain number of needles at a time for the distance of a predetermined variable number of needles in one direction and for a needles in one direction and for the distance of a predetermined xed number of needles in the other direction for the tying in of said elastic warp yarns into said base fabric.

21. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp hut fabric on a, tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide bars suspended above the needles and sinkers and each provided with a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of: feeding a set of inelastic yarns and a set of elastic yarns to the yarn guides; guiding one set of yarns in a general vertical direction toward the needles and sinkers; and guiding the other set of yarns in algeneral longitudinal direction toward the needles and sinkers.

22. In a method of manufacturing elastic warp knit fabric on a'tricot warp knitting machine having a bank of vertically disposed needles, a bank of horizontally disposed sinkers, and a pair of guide bars suspended above theA needles and sinkers and each provided with 'a bank of vertically disposed yarn guides for delivering warp yarns to the needles and sinkers, the steps of: feeding a set of inelastic yarns and a set of elastic yarns to the yarn guides; guiding the set of inelastic yarns in a general vertical direction toward the needles and sinkers; and guiding the set of elastic yarns in a general longitudinal direction toward the needles and sinkers.

CHARLES R. BURNS. 

